Conclusion

We asked what the optimal way for the digitalization of language education is - if digitalization would benefit it at all. Our framework based on our review of the theoretical background offers a solution for developing language competence:

Novice users need to achieve a sufficient baseline vocabulary to start learning the actual language. After this important step, they develop their language competency by acquisition through natural text. When they become comfortable with this, the language complexity is reduced far enough that applying the language becomes manageable.

The point of language application is where traditional classrooms excel most at. However, most learning activities before this point, mainly vocabulary training and text reading, can, and, one could argue, should be done independently of the traditional classroom. This is also where digitalization, by implementing learning activities in software, has the highest benefit. Not only can software provide vocabulary training and text input, it can also synergize both. It can also generally synchronize between any learning activities by analyzing the user's learning data to adapt to him. Software can automatically do this at no additional cost (besides software development) while also providing flexibility and autonomy, compared to a teacher who needs time and energy to track and provide feedback to students. The teacher's flexibility, in turn, could provide benefits in other scenarios more efficiently, such as personal communication.

We also asked if current approaches of digitalization by language learning software applications represent an optimal way of doing so.

We found out that there is a wide selection of apps available. However, within this selection, the learning activities are highly fragmented. Synergy effects, which are necessary for adequate adaptation, are lost when users have to use different apps, removing the basis for accurate adaptation. Even when apps, such as Duolingo offer multiple activities, for example training vocabulary words and reading with Duolingo Stories, they underutilize synergy effects and adaptation if they are utilized at all. However, synergy effects and adaptation are one of the potential main benefits of digital language education. Thus, while a transfer of traditional to digital language education occurs, a transfer in the sense of mere copying is inadequate to utilize all the benefits and possibilities of current technologies.

With our built language learning software prototype we attempt to show an adequate practical implementation of an optimal approach to digital language learning. It offers vocab training with text reading. This is extended with the collection and synchronization of user data, which allows the software to adapt in real time to individual learning developments. The data collection also provides the user with data visualization and autonomy to make his own decisions. The major drawback of the current prototype is that the generated sentences are often wrong, that the selection of articles is limited and that the article reader could be improved. While the sentence generation could be improved with more technical research, solving problems related to the articles is more trivial. Improving the reader only requires a better user interface, and the limited selection of articles could be extended with permission of news outlets (via a contract for example). Retrieving news articles in real time via an API (or web scraping) is not a technical problem, but copyright protection prevents this.

Besides these limitations, the prototype also shows future potential: Generated user data can provide insights and feedback for current learning methods, but also can provide feedback on the accuracy of our framework and of current scientific theories of L2 acquisition. Moreover, when the prototype is free of software bugs and stable, the addition of a Virtual Classroom in conjunction with a physical classroom could show the benefits of their synergy between language education, teachers, and users.